


Lily and her husband Asta

by brtnvm



Category: Black Clover - 田畠裕基 | Tabata Yuki
Genre: Adventure & Romance, Age Difference, F/M, Magic-Users, Married Life
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-04
Updated: 2019-02-06
Packaged: 2019-10-22 07:58:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 9,538
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17658989
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brtnvm/pseuds/brtnvm
Summary: Asta x Lily. What if Lily actually agreed to marry Asta and travelled with him? Being excommunicated from the church, travelling with Asta - now her husband - to find a way to rise to the top of the system in this corrupt kingdom.





	1. Asta's life in the village

...A magnificent statue of a magician holding a book stands atop the giant monster skull near the remote village of Hage.

The local priest exits his simple rural church when he hears the cry of babies.

...Who could be such a cruel person who abandons their children after taking care of them for at least nine months! They sure are irresponsible.

Right at the porch, two babies are left in a basket.

He carries them inside and starts a fire from a whim of a finger using his magic so that the children can get some warm. As the warmth spreads in the room, the priest wonders who these children might be? Are they brothers? Or not? On of the children has a strange amulet - the dark haired one. He is also very quiet. The bright haired one, on the contrary, seems to be very energetic. The priest takes a more thorough look...Someone went through the trouble of writing their names on their shirt...Asta and Yuno.

"Asta...Yuno...From now on, this place shall be your home!"

...15 years later...In Hage village. Asta and Yuno have grown into fine young men.

The lowly peasants are using their magic to plow the fields. Thanks to magic, the work gets done very fast, so they can gather a great harvest! Somewhere nearby a loud voice can be heard...Across all of the village. It is Asta again, he is...

"SISTER LILY! ONE DAY I SHALL BECOME THE WIZARD KING AND MAKE YOU THE HAPPIEST WOMAN IN THE WORLD! I BEG YOU, PLEASE MARRY ME!"

...Sister Lily, the local nun, is flattered yet annoyed. More flattered, than annoyed, actually. Who knows, if Lily hadn't been a nun, she might have even considered Asta since he seems to be so devoted to her - Lily thinks tha Asta would make a loyal husband.

"Forgive me, Asta, but I am everyone's sister." Sister Lily rejects - if reject is an appropriate word in this situation - Asta's misguided advances.

It seems that Asta does not understand the notion of religious celibate - but who could blame him? He's a simple uneducated rural boy, after all.

"THAT'S NOT ALL!" Asta makes another attempt, trying to make eye-to-eye contact with Sister Lily.

"Well...I apologize, but..."

Asta is a determinated boy. He bows to Lily and yells,

"I'M NOT GIVING UP!"

Sister Lily has long since left any thoughts on finding herself a partner in life. She is a nun, after all.

"Well, unfortunately...You see, Asta..."

"I HAVEN'T GIVEN UP YET!" Asta yells as he bows to the ground.

"I really am sorry! ...But my faith-"

"SISTER LILY, JUST ONE MORE-"

Sister Lily sighs and takes out her magic book. As kind as she is, her devotion to the church is her first priority. As a conduit to the saint, she cannot allow herself any selfish pleasures. Even if Asta really wants to. Not that she really took him seriously in the first place. She is a nun, after all. Her destiny is in her faith. And she cannot falter. Asta will grow up and find himself a bunch of new other girls to indulge himself in - Sister Lily is sure of that - that's what the older villagers tell her anyway.

Sister Lily uses her water magic.

"Water Magic - Holy Fist Of Love"

A fist created out of water crashes into Asta...As he is soaked and his face is pushed into the ground.

Sister Lily is concerned if she went too harsh on the poor boy. He is led by noble emotions, after all. She regrets using her magic on him...A better solution would have been explaining why a nun can't marry a man...Next time she will do that instead.

"I, s-sorry, Asta...I didn't really think this through...It was an accident" Sister Lily says as she approaches Asta who is lying down on the ground.

She really should talk to him to get rid of this issue one and for all.

"Listen, Asta. There's a reason why I can't marry you."

"I WON'T GIVE UP-" Asta raises his face from the dirty puddle on the ground. Sister Lily stops his screaming with a touch of her finger to his lips. And starts explaining in a gentle voice.

"Just hear me out. I am a nun. A conduit to the saint. We, the people of the faith, have our...responsibilities. It's really long to explain, but in short, if I were to ever marry you, I would break my oath of faith. I suppose that would make me a sinner. I would be officially excommunicated from the church. Everywhere in our country where there is a church - the priests would know about it. So we wouldn't be able to live here, in this country. People - including foremostly the simple crowd - wouldn't ever leave such a person alone - a person excommunicated from the church - I hope that is something you are able to grasp. I might be even proclaimed a follower of the evil forces - and I don't even want to think what could happen then. Our priest - the one that raised you for 15 years - would start hating me and judge me according to the law. I'm not sure if would be executed, but I would definitely be punished...Is that what you want to happen? Before saying that you won't give up, think over my words well. I'm not just refusing you out of stubbornness...Who knows, if I weren't a nun...No. Still no." Sister Lily said with a serious uncharacteristic expression on her face.

Yuno (who was now tall and handsome) and other children from the orphanage silently listened to Sister Lily standing nearby.

Asta stood in silence for ten seconds-

"I'LL THINK ABOUT IT! BUT I WILL FIND A WAY!" Asta said as he finally gave up and turned around to Yuno. It seems that sometimes an informative coversation can be more effective than constant conflict in changing a person's mind.

"YUNO I SUMMON YOU TO A DUEL!" Asta said.


	2. Asta's struggle

"YUNO I SUMMON YOU TO A DUEL!"

...

"Sister Lily, let me help you with the laundry."

"DON'T IGNORE ME YUNO! PREPARE FOR MY GREATEST ATTACK! 1-2-3 ! ! "

Asta concentrated all his will into a powerful stance, but his hand didn't emit a single magic wave.

...As always, Asta still couldn't use magic.

"Hahahah!" The orphanage kids just laughed at Asta. "Magic is everything in this world."

Yuno, just to show off his magic, used his wind magic to dry all the laundry in a few seconds.

Asta rushed to the wood to chop it, but the bastard Yuno beat him there too with his versatile wind magic.

Asta was so annoyed by this! At least he compensated by working out his muscles! But...He still couldn't use magic.

He sat in a shaded place where nobody would bother him in sorrow.

Sister Lily approached him with a smiling face.

"Asta...The ceremony will start soon. When you'll get your grimoire magic book, i'm sure it'll change something in you, and your magic abilities will awaken."

"SISTER! YOU'RE RIGHT! "

Asta looked at the statue of a previous Wizard King.

"I WILL FOLLOW IN YOUR FOOTSTEPS AND BECOME THE WIZRD KING!"

Sister Lily just smiled. She believed in Asta. If anything, he was stubborn. As a person of faith, she believed that hard work will always be rewarded by at least something. She could admire Asta at least for his determination...It was really a quality that made him stand out. Then again, he was the only teen who wasn't able to use magic...But she knew how hard he physically trained his body to make up for it..

"I'LL BECOME THE WIZARD KING AND REPAIR THIS RUNDOWN CHURCH...YOU GOT IT, YUNO?!" Asta stretched out his hand to Yuno for a fistbump.

Yuno just shrugged off and walked away. He was obviously showing off to Asta how far away he was in comparison to Asta being a prominent Wind Magic user etc.

"JU-just you wait...All of you! I'l BECOME THE GREATEST!" Asta ran off to train.

"Asta, wait!" Sister Lily said but Asta was already gone...

...

Sister Lily found Yuno in the church. She had seen it all. She knew that as a nun, she should keep up friendship in the community...

"Hey Yuno, could you please not be so harsh towards Asta?"


	3. Lily's sin

"Hey Yuno could you please not be so harsh towards Asta? Just like you were in childhood?"

"I can't do that."

Sister Lily remembered a day in Asta's childhood when he was beaten up but he took Yuno back to the village. Since then Yuno never cried again. And since then Asta trained hard everyday.

Sister Lily exited the church as she thought that Asta must be training right now...In the forest.

"998,999,1000 PUSHUPS! AND NOW SOME MAGICAL LEAF JUICE!"

...No effect.

"BUT THE ALMIGHTY ASTA NEVER GIVES UP! I WILL BECOME THE MAGIC KING! JUST A BIT MORE TRAINING!"

...

In march, once a year all 15-year olds gather at a special castle where they receive their grimoires.

Asta was amazed at the amount of the grimoires - about 500000 for sure.

"WOW SO MUCH OF THEM WHICH ONE IS MINE WHEN I GET A GRIMOIRE I CAN USE MAGIC TOO! AND CATCH UP TO YUNO!"

Two assholes were standing nearby saying that those guys - Asta and Yuno - have no chance of becoming Magic Wizards.

The priest and sister Lily were standing nearby, supporting Asta and Yuno on their grimoire receival.

An old wizard appeared and wished everybody good luck. He cast a spell and the grimoires flew around to their new owners.

...Except for Asta.

"WHERE"S MY GRIMOIRE!" He said.

"Well...Try next year." The wizard dude said.

"Your pathetic." The asshole guys said to Asta.

Suddenly everybody looked at Yuno his grimoire was glowing and it had 4 leaves.

"Wow thats cool" everybody said.

"I'll be the Wizard King" Yuno said.

"I'll be your rival and catch up to you" Asta said.

Everybody laughed at him because he didn't even get a grimoire.

"Impossible" Yuno said and left the special castle.

Sister Lily was observing...She felt really sorry for Asta. She also noticed a suspicious man keeping an eye on Yuno because of his kewl grimoire.

...

Asta was hanging out nearby...

"I...I ..thought that when I'd get my grimoire, I'd become a wizard...But...

BUT AS IF I'M GONNA GIVE UP JUST COZ' OF THAT! I'LL GET MY GRIMOIRE WHATEVER IT TAKES! i'LL PROVE THAT EVEN A POOR ORPHAN CAN BECOME GREAT! Just You Wait, YUNO!"

Asta suddenly heard some noize as he was going back.

...Meanwhile, two assholes attacked Yuno - they wanted his grimoire - but he easily defected their attacks.

Suddenly, a bunch of magic chains popped out of nowhere. the assholes were torn apart into bloody pieces by these chains, with their intestines scattered across the nearby brick walls.

"I Won't let you touch him! Hahahahahah!" A creepy voice said.

It was the suspicious guy from the special castle. He said that he had the Magic of chains.

"Who are u" Yuno asked.

"I used to be the Magic Knight Revchi but they kicked me out so now I'm just a thief. hhahahhahah And I'm taking your grimoire cuz I can sell it for big dough"

Revchi said, wounding Yuno with his chain attack in the stomach, taking his grimoire and binding him with chains.

Asta appeared just in time.

"YOU FILTHY THIEF GET YOUR HANDS OFF YUNO'S GRIMOIRE!"

"O you're that pathetic loser who didn't even get a grimoire!" Revchi said.

"Yeah that's me! Hand over the grimoire!" Asta said.

"The world is cruel and so am I. Die, boy."

"I wont give up."

Asta said as he ran up to Revchi. Unfortunately, his legs got caught by chainz.

"DIEEE!" The evil mage screamed as he unleashed a storm of chains onto Asta, tearing his skin apart. Luckily, Asta was physically trained so he could somewhat endure this hit.

The chain attack made Asta bleed and crash into the nearby wall.

Asta was shocked by Revchi's magic power.

"So this is how strong mages are out there, huh?" Asta wondered.

Revchi approached Asta who was lying down .

"I can use my magical chainz to see that you don't have any magic in you you are pathetic."

"I WONT GIVE UP!"

"Yeah you tell him Asta! Asta is my rival!" Yuno said.

"NOT YET! I STILL FIGHT!"

Asta said concentrating his determination. Suddenly a hidden power awakened as a book flew from the sky right before Asta.

"A...grimoire?" Asta couldn't believe it. Finally, he was going to prove the world what he was made of!

"No it can't be you don't have magic." Revchi said.

A giant black sword appeared out of the book. Revchi was horrified by the intimidating aura that Asta was emitting.

Asta took the sword in his hand as he felt power flowing through him.

"I WILL BECOME THE WIZARD KING!" Asta said as he took hold of the sword.

"DIEEEE!~" Revchi said as used his chains.

"NEVER GIVING UP IS MY MAGIC!" Asta yelled and swung his sword at the chains which immediately dissapeared.

With another blow of his sword, Asta hit the evil guy with all of his might. All of the chains dissapeared, freeing Yuno. Asta was wounded too, however, so he fell to the ground after this attack.

Asta couldn't move - he was so hurt.

Revchi mustered his last strengh to kill the boy. As he stood up bleeding from Asta's sword attack with a smile of a murder on his face as he unleashed ten chains onto Asta, planning on finishing off Yuno later.

"CHAIN MAGIC! DIE, LOWLY PEASANT SCUM!" Neither Yuno or Asta were strong enough to move, let alone protect themselves, considering their condition.

Asta prepared for one last thrust as the chains flew towards him. An image of Sister Lily flashed before his eyes in his imagination.

~ suddenly ~

"CONCENTRATED WAVE : WATER CREATION MAGIC!" A familiar voice shouted.

An immensely powerful spiral-form wave of water materialized and pushed the already weakened from Asta's attack Revchi's still breathing body into a brick wall.

"shit..." Was Revchi's last words as the water flushed down onto the ground. His neck was broken because of the collision...He was undoubtedly dead.

It was Sister Lily who heard the noize and rushed to help.

She saw how Asta awakened his grimoire, she was very happy, she knew how much this meant to him.

But when Revchi was about to kill Asta, she had to step in.

So she concentrated all her available power in order to unleash a concentrated wave of water on the evil guy, smashing him with the waterforce into the brickwall, smashing his wounded body and breaking his neck in the process...

The trail of blood silently dripped from Revchi's face which still held the gruesome expression of violence...This face would never speak anymore...

Sister Lily stood there at the moment in shock and terror.

She had just murdered a person.


	4. Asta and Lily

Sister Lily stood there at the moment in shock and terror.

She had just murdered a person.

"I-I..." She felt how her blood went cold as she reluctantly approachred the dead body of Revchi.

"s-sir..." She touched his neck, checking for the pulse...No pulse.

She was terrifed. She had just KILLED a person. She had just become a sinner...A sinner...A sinner...

She turned around to see if anyone else was around.

Asta and Yuno were lying unconscious from their wounds after the fight. When she shifted her vision to the other brick walls however-

She saw the dismembered bodies of the assholes who were killed by Revchi's chain attack. She was going dizzy when she saw that their intestines were falling out of their bodies...She started vomiting right on the ground.

"AAAFFFFRRRGGGHHH" As she stood on her hands and knees..Liquid from her stomach unwillingly flowed from her mouth making her feel even worse than she already was, leaving a sour awful aftertaste of half-digested food in her mouth. She felt so disgusted but she didn't even realize it -she was still shocked by the realization that from now on the sin of murder would be hers forever.

She closed her eyes and said to herself,

"It's not the time to think about that." She forced herself to think only about the church building right now...Or else she'd continue vomiting...

Sister Lily woke up the barely conscious boys and let them rely on her shoulders as she helped them walk back to the church.

When she finally left them at the church to rest, she rushed to the priest...And told him what happened. The priest told her to wait at the church...

The three dead bodies were properly buried at the Hage Cemetery - the priest took care of that.

... Later at night, at the church...when Asta and Yuno were sleeping recovering from the fight.

"Sister Lily, please hand in your veil."

"Why?" Sister Lily asked with a puzzled expression on her face, nevertheless taking the veil off and giving it to the priest.

She was now sitting in her usual costume but with her head uncovered, revealing her dark hair and a pigtail at the back.

The priest took the veil and cleared his throat. Lily asked -

"Father Priest...I dd-don't know what to do- F-forgive me" Lily asked the priest in a nervous voice.

"I'm sorry, Sister Lily...You're a sinner now, so I have no choice but to excommunicate you from the church...I hope you understand - how can a murderer be a role model to other people of the village? Do you realize that?"

"BUT I WAS PROTECTING ASTA AND YUNO!" Sister Lily shouted in an unexpected voice. She was even shocked herself by how loudly she shouted -it was completely not like her. And then she buried her face in her hands and tears flowed like a river.

"Is that a suitable excuse for killing a person? Especially for a nun ? A person of the cloth? I understand the situation so this incident will hold no legal persecution for you - I've made arrangements on that matter...But only people with a crystal clear soul may continue service to the faith. Well, you can still stay at the village - I'm sure the local villagers would be happy if you joined them-"

Sister Lily wept on and on. She suddenly rised up and ran out of the church tears running down her face.

The moon was high in the midnight, illuminating Lily's (not a sister anymore) red face. The priest wasn't going to chase her since she was an adult - it was time for her to decide her fate on her own.

She tripped over a few times with her face landing right into the dust. But she didn't care. She just didn't care.

She ran into the forest and started crying under a tree. She had been holding the tears in for all day...So she couldn't think about anything...She just kept crying.

Suddenly a familiar voice approached her. It was Asta.

"Sister Lily, thank you for saving me."

Lily just ignored him. And kept crying.

"Sister Lily-"

"I'M NOT A SISTER ANYMORE! DON'T YOU SEE I DON'T HAVE A VEIL! I"M EXCOMMUNICATED! AND IT'S ALL BECAUSE OF YOU!" Lily shouted. In a few seconds she realized what she just said. Trying her best to keep her tears down, she said -

"A-asta...I-i'm s-sorry... I didn'-t m-mean t-to say that..."

Asta stood in silence.

TO BE CONTINUED.


	5. Marriage Proposal

Asta woke up. He saw the bright moonlight shining through the window of the church sleeping room...He could faintly hear somebody talking in the darkness of the night. Yuno and the other orphanage kids were in a heavy sleep right next to Asta.

Asta suddenly felt pain in his body and discovered that it was covered in improvised bandages. He had a lot of wounds, however none of them were too serious. It was evident that Sister Lily had used her healing magic on him and probably on Yuno too while they were sleeping, because Asta was certainly in a much better condition currently than when Revchi had attacked him. He tried to remember what happened.

Suddenly he was shocked at the realization that Sister Lily had saved him and Yuno's life too. He was about to be killed by the chain attack when Sister's magic interfered. He faintly remembered something vaguely...As if Sister had killed off the Revchi guy...But that just couldn't have happened, right? Sister Lily was not the type of person to kill people...

Suddenly he heard somebody run out of the church crying...Asta looked at the window. It was Sister Lily...Why was she crying? Since Asta woke up, he decided to find out. Asta put on his clothes and noticed that they were mended - somebody had sewn the damaged places after the fight.

At the porch Asta ran into Father Priest. He was holding Sister Lily's nun veil in his hand.

"Asta...Congratulations on getting a Grimoire...I never thought you'd succeed, but it seems that I was wrong. But, you know, if you want, you can still stay at the village as much as you want to."

Father Priest said with an empty expression on his face. As if he was hiding something.

"Father Priest, why is Sister Lily crying?" Asta asked, at the same time wanting to chase after Sister Lily.

"Asta...go to sleep." The priest gave him a stern glance.

"BUT FATHER_-!"

"Fine, fine, calm down. I will tell you. When Sister Lily was saving you and Yuno from the bandit, she...had to ...murder him in order to save you two. I'm certain that it was not intentional, but...it's a sin nevertheless. And...murderers cannot continue service in the church."

As the priest said this, Asta's stomach ached in fear for Sister Lily... Does this mean she would be accused of crime?-

"Before you ask, no, Sister Lily will not hold responsibility for this crime. But I hope you understand that she can't be a part of the church anymore either."

Asta rushed out without saying a word...following Sister's footsteps into the night as the moon illuminated the soil.

The priest wasn't too happy about the incident, but all he could really do was just ask for another nun from the church who could replace Lily...And as for Lily...The priest was no longer her superior so she could go wherever she wanted to. It was her own business now. She was a grown up adult, after all.

That was what the priest thought as a couple of tears felt onto the floor as the priest wiped his wet eyes with the veil he was holding.

... ... ...

The moon was high in the clear midnight sky, illuminating Lily's (not a sister anymore) red face. The priest wasn't going to chase her since she was an adult - it was time for her to decide her fate on her own.

She tripped over a few times with her face landing right into the ground dust. But she didn't care. She just didn't care. And she continued running with her face and clothes covered in dust.

She ran into the forest and started crying under a tree. She had been holding the tears in for all day...So she couldn't think about anything...She just kept crying. She was sitting under the tree so that the moon illuminated her face.

Suddenly a familiar voice approached her. It was Asta.

"Sister Lily, thank you for saving me."

Lily just ignored him. And kept crying.

"Sister Lily-"

"I'M NOT A SISTER ANYMORE! DON'T YOU SEE I DON'T HAVE A VEIL! I"M EXCOMMUNICATED! AND IT'S ALL BECAUSE OF YOU!" Lily shouted. In a few seconds she realized what she just said. Trying her best to keep her tears down, she said -

"A-asta...I-i'm s-sorry... I didn'-t m-mean t-to say that..."

Asta stood in silence. He was thinking but struggling to pick the right words. The hardest thing to do right now was to control his voice volume and demeanor in order to establish a sincere conversation. He decided to say what he thought was right.

Sister Lily managed to stop crying but her face was a wet mess from all the tears and saliva after her crying. She just blankly stared at Asta, without waiting any sort of response from him...Asta bent on his knees and sat next to Lily under the tree. Asta hesitantly wrapped his arms around Lily, just like Lily did to him at the times when he was hurt. Surprisingly, Lily didn't push Asta away...As he heavily breathed with his heartbeat suspended, cherishing every moment of this warm gentle contact.

"The priest told me what happened...Sister- I mean Lily, it doesn't matter to me. Whatever you do, I promise to always support you. Lily...Will you marry me? I mean, there's n-nothing holding y-you back now, right?" Asta asked.

Lily kept silent, occasionally breathing the leaking liquid from her nose back inside and wiping her face with her hand, but it wasn't really effective since her face was all dusty. Now it became dirty. She needed time to process what Asta was saying..She was too absorbed in her own emotions at the moment. She eventually said,

"Nothing's holding me back, right...You're right, Asta...A sinner like me doesn't deserve sympathy like this...You know, I-I 've lost the purpose to live...What's the point? I'm a sinner...But...if it will make you happy, then why not...Asta...nobody taught me how to be a wife...All I know is how to be a nun..." Lily said, hugging Asta seeking warmth in his touch. Asta blushed but it wasn't obvious in the night darkness.

"Lily...H-how about you join me on my trip to the capital? I'm planning to become the Wizard King!" Asta awkwardly asked her, letting go of Lily...

Lily didn't seem to register what he said...she was completely distracted in her own thoughts as if she wasn't here... as she looked straight at the moon ignoring Asta's words...Asta was afraid of interrupting her. Suddenly she spoke.

"Asta...Let's go to the priest...We'll get married right now."

Asta was expecting her to say anything except this.


	6. The conversation

"Lily...H-how about you join me on my trip to the capital? I'm planning to become the Wizard King!" Asta awkwardly asked her, letting go of Lily...

Lily didn't seem to register what he said...she was completely distracted in her own thoughts as if she wasn't here... as she looked straight at the moon ignoring Asta's words...Asta was afraid of interrupting her. Suddenly she spoke.

"Asta...Let's go to the priest...We'll get married right now."

Asta was expecting her to say anything except this.

He broke into cold sweat from the unexpected answer.

He was really nervous when Lily agreed but at the same time it was him who proposed the marriage.

Whenever he asked Lily to marry him, he knew that she would probably reject him. The act of confessing in itself became one of his favourite activities because it allowed him to display his affection for Sister Lily. It kind of satisfied his pride that he never gave up on proposing marriage and it was a way of proving to himself that he would never give up on what he wanted. This approach worked with physical training, however it wasn't a good idea to be so straightforward when it came to romance. Unfortunately, Asta didn't know that affairs de coeur require a more subtle approach. Asta would probably had had more success if he had made his advances more gradually, eventually allowing Lily to develop a slow burning emotion, but those kinds of thoughts was something Asta never really thought of - nobody had ever explained to him the intricacies of mutual romance.

Of course deep in his heart he did have romantic feelings for her. It was just that he was used to being rejected so it was much easier to him to propose each time as an expression of affection since he knew that Lily would probably say no, so that meant he always got another shot at proposing. And since Lily was a nun, it wasn't like she would have found someone else to marry. Over time, the proposal lost its original meaning, and it was just Asta's way of admiration for Lily who was the only person who actually treated Asta's dreams and ambitions seriously - she would always listen to him, support him, she was the person who supported all the kids in the orphanage. Not to mention she was really beautiful and the only attractive woman around. When everybody laughed at him, she would always give him advice. In fact, it was Lily who suggested Asta try out physical training due to his lack of magic power before he got his grimoire. Asta was really grateful for this extremely useful advice.

But now, Lily was psychologically broken. Not only had she been excommunicated from the church, but most importantly, she had killed a person. Asta had only begun to realize the burden that she had to bear. As a nun, it was especially hard for her to endure these challenges of faith. Asta was completely unsure of what to do...

Asta looked into his heart and saw that his feelings were still there and they weren't leaving anytime soon.

He was definitely sure in his love for Lily. He was ready to take up the responsibility of becoming Lily's husband - after all, it was him who proposed, not the other way around. He wasn't sure why Lily agreed though. Did she finally love him back? Asta couldn't say that. He had no idea how Lily felt. What made her agree? Asta didn't know that. But she did agree. And Asta felt how his heart started gleaming in hope of the awareness that he and Lily would marry. His breathing was becoming irregular.

Asta was a person who kept his word. Especially since it was his own word. No way he would go back now. He was ready to embrace his new life with Lily as his wife despite being only fifteen years old. And Lily...was twenty six. But that never stopped him from proposing, right? An eleven year gap wouldn't matter that much as they would get older.

This is what Asta thought about when he heard Lily agree - although it only took a few seconds in his head to process all of this.

"Lily...I promise to be the best husband in the world for you." Asta said in a trembling voice. Strangely enough, he wasn't shouting but rather speaking in a calm voice.

Lily had an strong expression in her eyes that Asta couldn't understand - he desperately wanted to understand what she was feeling right now. But he felt that he probably shouldn't be asking any questions right now. Lily rised from the ground, took Asta's hand and walked in the direction of the church without saying anything.

Asta awkwardly said...

"Lily...Your face..."

Lily stared forward for a few seconds before realizing Asta was addressing her.

"Huh?"

"Y-your face...It's dirty..."

"Oh." Lily said quietly. She casted some water and quickly cleaned her face from the dirt and tears. She had calmed down and now was silent.

Asta silently accompanied her.

They walked together towards the church. Lily never dropped a single word. Asta was too afraid to ask her what she was thinking about...He didn't want to ruin the moment. Asta enjoyed the soft warmth of Lily's hand.

...In a short period of time, they returned to the village as the moon was still high and bright in the night.

Asta and Lily were standing right in front of the door of the church.

"So,...Let's go in together?" Asta asked.

Lily silently nodded, as the golden cross on her necklace shined under the moonlight. It was unusual to Asta to see her hair uncovered - her dark blue hair in a pigtail at the back was really beautiful. Asta wasn't sure whether Father Priest was sleeping already. Even if he was, Asta would just wake him up. His marriage to Lily was important and it couldn't wait until the morning.

Lily was staring at Asta with a blank expression. Asta tried, but he couldn't understand what Lily was feeling. What kind of emotion were her eyes trying to convey?

Asta couldn't take this anymore. It struck him as a sudden realization. He knew this all along...He finally began to partially realise why Lily had agreed to marry him...After all, he had grown up with her...He was close enough with Lily to understand the way she thought.

Because, after they would marry there would be no way back.

He released her hand and looked at her with a firm glance - as firm as the situation allowed, of course.

His voice was shaking, but the words that he said were firm.

"Lily...You can still...You know, if you changed your mind...I..I don't want to force myself onto you if you don't truly want this. Lily...If you don't want to marry me, we can stop. I...should have known better...You've rejected me so many times. You're just marrying me out of pity, right? You're thinking that since your life is worthless since you're an excommunicated sinner, you might as well marry me to make me happy? That-That's not how marriage should be. I..."

That's what Asta was saying...

Lily's stoic demeanor seemed to be affected by Asta's words. She was silently listening him out. Before Lily answered him, Asta could swear that for a glimpse of a second her eyes were very angry, but the next moment her blank gaze returned. Lily was replying in a surprisingly loud and clear voice. She was looking straight into Asta's eyes...

"Asta...Are you afraid of marrying me? ...Was your proposal just a joke? ...Are you trying to chicken out?...This isn't like the Asta I know. The Asta I know would never go back on his promise!"

As Lily spoke, her voice became louder and louder.

"Do you think you can just ask me to be your wife and then opt out?! Who do you take me for!? Does your confession of love have no value at all?! Is it because I'm too old for you?!"

"That's not it at all. Lily,-"

Lily interrupted him.

Lily's blue eyes were full of blame and anger. Asta was regretting asking those questions...Then again, he had to ask that. There was no other way for him.

Lily continued talking.

"Do you think I'm stupid, Asta!? I knew what I was agreeing to! If you're a real man, take me right now to the priest and MAKE ME YOUR WIFE!"

Lily finished almost screaming. She was about to lose her calm and start crying again...She was already whimpering...

Asta didn't know what to do. What was right? What was wrong? What should he do?

He embraced Lily and calmed her down again...

"Lily...I'm sorry...If...If you are sure about this...then of course we'll get married. I...won't go back on my word." Asta was feeling a bit guilty but he didn't quite understand why.

Lily hugged him back and calmed down again. She managed to hold her tears back. She didn't want to show her weakness or inner insecurities...She wasn't ready to share her emotions with Asta...Definitely not now.

As they were both embracing each other in a hug, an awkward silence suspended in the air. There was no point in saying anything more...At that moment they both knew how each of them felt without saying any words.

The church suddely opened and Father Priest looked out of the door - he probably heard Asta and Lily's loud argument, and since it was the night, he woke up to see what was the cause.

He was puzzled when he saw Asta and Lily hugging at the porch of the church.

When Asta and Lily let go of each other, Asta and Lily looked at the priest and said at the same time.

"Father Priest, we want to marry."

...


	7. Wedding Arrangements

"Father Priest, we want to marry."

... ... ...

"...What?~" The priest didn't seem to understand at first. He was also sleepy since it was the middle of the night. When he processed the words, he repeated,

"WHAT!?"

Asta decided to lead the conversation. Lily wasn't comfortable with speaking with the Priest right now after her excommunication.

"Father Priest, I want to make Sis-...I mean Lily my wife. Since she's not a nun anymore, I proposed to her. She agreed. So we wanted to ask you to hold the wedding ceremony...right now. There's no point in waiting, right?"

An awkward silence suspended in the air. After a few seconds Father Priest looked at Asta as if he had gone mad. (Utter nonsense), was what he thought about Asta's words. He thought that he was probably misunderstanding something. There was no way Lily had agreed to marry Asta...right? Father Priest looked at Lily.

Lily said, "Yes. I want to marry Asta." She said in a calm and reserved way. She wasn't showing much emotion so it wasn't clear whether she was happy about this, but, but...

"YOU AGREED TO MARRY ASTA!? HIM?! ARE YOU CRAZY!?" Father Priest exclaimed.

Lily shrugged it off in a disinterested voice, "I thought I was excommunicated from the church, right? I can marry whoever I want to."

"BUT HE'S ONLY 15! AND YOU'RE 26! And that's not even the worst issue here! You. Want. To. Marry. ASTA of all people?!-"

Lily interrupted, Asta was surprised by how bold her voice was in contrast with her usual way of speaking. It seemed that excommunication had affected her personality after all.

"You know, Father Priest, I'm tired of you being so dismissive of my groom. He's actually the kindest and most hard working person I know.  
I am confident that he will make a fine magician in the future...He's already fine as he is." Lily looked at Asta with a glance full of tender care.

Asta blushed when he heard how Lily was defending him in front of the priest. He was becoming more and more enthusiastic about the marriage.

"Please, let us marry. It's really the least you could do for the both of us right now." Lily said in a slightly irritated voice that wasn't going to accept any objections.

"...Fine. Have it your way. (sigh)." Father Priest was shocked but in the end he could only agree.

"Can't this wait till tomorrow? It's the middle of the night." The priest asked.

"No, I believe we're in a hurry. Asta, didn't you say something about going to the capital? If I recall, you were originally going to go with Yuno tomorrow? Well, now I'm also going with Asta." Lily said.

"Yeah." Asta nodded. "So that means we have no time to lose!" Asta almost shouted. But he went quiet after Lily and the priest sternly glanced at him for being loud in the night, - after all he could wake up some of the kids.

Father Priest wasn't sure whether to be happy or sad about this whole wedding thing. But...deep in his heart he was actually proud that both of his "children" were finally starting a new adult life, as strange and unbelievable as it seemed. He would certainly miss Lily...and Asta too, even if he didn't want to admit it.

The priest led the couple into the main church hall and asked them to make the place tidy before the ceremony.

Lily casted water, Asta was cleaning the premise, the Priest was lighting the candles at the altar and preparing some books.

"...Help me with the arrangements. Ugh...I'll need to find some rings...Come here, both of you. You'll help me search...I don't have any fancy clothes so you'll just have to settle with these (!) two silver rings...Will that be good with you two?"

"...I'm good with it. I'm not exactly a person of luxury." Lily said in a slightly disappointed voice. As if this wasn't what she was really expecting.

Asta felt really guilty when he realized what a pathetic wedding this was going to be. No celebration. No guests, no food, no fancy clothes...Two plain rings and a priest in the midnight in a rural village. He gulped and looked at Lily and saw how she seemed to be disapponted-

"Asta, I know what you're thinking right now." Lily noticed that Asta looked at her in a nervous way. She managed to squeeze a smile.

"It's all right. When we get to the capital, we'll earn a lot of money and celebrate it properly, right?" Lily said, a hint of worry in her voice.

"R-right." Asta said. He promised to himself he would make up for this to Lily. He'd make her the happiest wife in the world.

"Ahem! Everything's ready! Come to the altar.-" Father Priest announced as the moonlight permeated the church windows. The burning candles created a warm atmosphere. There was definitely something romantic about a midnight wedding.

Suddenly the doors of the church hall opened with a thud.

"What's ready? I apologize for eavesdropping but I woke up and heard something...So I decided to check out." It was Yuno. His wounds had also apparently been healed by Lily.

Lily was silent. Father Priest was silent. This was really awkward to explain...especially to Yuno. But Asta said in a cheerful voice,

"I'm going to marry Lily!"

"...Asta, this isn't the best time for your jokes." Yuno said.

"It's not a joke! It's true!" Asta started arguing back to Yuno.

"I'm not a nun anymore, so I'm marrying Asta." Lily said with a smile.

Yuno's face was still, but his eyes went round from the surprise..

"Really?!-Ehm, I mean, I...congratulate both of you with...your wedding." Yuno awkwardly said. Even the stoic Yuno was shocked by such an unexpected turn of events. Of course, he was really happy for Asta since they were like brothers - Yuno still remembered the time when Asta saved him from a street thug. He didn't understand why Sister Lily wasn't a nun anymore, but this was obviously not the right time to ask.

"Yuno, you will be the witness." Father Priest said.

"I'll gladly oblige." Yuno replied, still in shock from the news.

...


	8. A new hope

"Asta, do you take Lily as your lawful wife, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and cherish until death do you part?

"I do."

"Lily, do you take Asta as your lawful husband, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and cherish until death do you part?"

"I do."

Asta and Lily exchanged their silver rings, putting them on each other's fingers.

"For as much as the bride and groom have consented together in holy matrimony, and have pledged their love and loyalty to each other, and have declared the same by the joining and the giving of rings, by the power vested in me, and as witnessed by friends and family, I now pronounce you husband and wife."

Asta and Lily looked into each other's eyes and they both saw hope to carve out their own future.

... ... ...

... ... ...

... ... ...

Yuno was a witness at the wedding. His opinion was that if both Asta and Lily wanted to marry, all he could do was to give them moral support. He believed in his friend and truly wished him and Lily happiness. Anyways, they were going to go to on an adventure to the Royal Capital soon so Yuno would travel in a company of three.

The priest was holding the ceremony. Since there were no additional arrangements such as wedding banquets or a crowd of guests, the ceremony was actually held really fast, in about a few minutes.

Right after being declared an official couple, Asta and Lily were really awkward with their new status. In theory they were supposed to kiss...and actually do much more but since neither Asta nor Lily were bold enough to do that they just awkwardly hugged at the altar. Asta was wearing his usual clothes and Lily was wearing her usual clothes except for her veil, so there wasn't much of a celebrational feel to the event.

The priest was also somewhat discomfortable with the newly wed couple's behaviour. Other than their strange and rather spontaneous, albeit determined desicion to marry each other, they didn't really give an impression of two people madly infatuated in love. The priest was afraid that it was just a desicion taken at a whim of a mood, especially with Lily being stressed after her excommunication and after taking a sin of murdering a person on herself and not being able to think rationally; and Asta's frankly immature teenage perception of what love was supposed to be about. But Asta had already reached his age of consent and had received his grimoire so he counted as an adult. Lily was a completely grown-up woman. They both had an idea of what they were agreeing to so the priest felt like he didn't have the right to deny those two the happiness of marriage, if that was what they wanted. Even if he thought it really wasn't a good decision.

He also hoped that Lily's reserved behaviour would balance out Asta's hot headed behaviour. He knew Asta would never hurt Lily and protect her at the cost of her life so at least he didn't have to worry about them having conflicts. He also hoped that marriage would distract Lily from her problems, that was actually one of the main reasons why he agreed to wed them.

Lily was a nun though, and nobody had ever taught her how to be a wife. Asta also wasn't knowledgeable about marriage either by any means. Father Priest just hoped that Asta and Lily would sort out their issues by themselves. From now on, it was their own personal life, and they were the only ones who were responsible for it.

Lily and Asta, now wearing their rings, were about to leave the altar and exit the church, when Yuno said,

"Aren't you two supposed to kiss?"

Once again, an awkward silence suspended in the air.

Asta looked at Lily...Who was blushing really hard...

"Here goes nothing..." Asta thought as he mentally prepared to take a move...-

When suddenly, Lily grabbed Asta's face with her hands and pushed her dry lips against his for a couple of seconds.

When she stopped the kiss, she turned away her glance in embarrassment.

Asta just stood there in shock. He couldn't believe he was just kissed by Lily. On the lips. Even the wedding ceremony wasn't as shocking as this.

Yuno was really happy he helped Asta get a little closer to his wife. It was still jarring to think of Lily as Asta's wife...but here they were.

"Now all of you should go and get a good sleep before your journey. I'll take care of the stuff here. Good night. Yuno, wait! I need your help."

Father Priest said as he closed the door, pushing out Asta and Lily from the main church hall. Yuno was left to help Father Priest clean up the church after the ceremony.

Asta and Lily were really tired and sleepy after all that happened tonight. The rings on their hands were reminding them that the wedding was real, and they were actually husband and wife.

Lily dragged Asta by his hand to her bed. Too tired and too embarrassed to talk, both Lily and Asta fell into Lily's bed without taking off their clothes. Asta fell asleep instantly, while Lily hugged Asta's arm.

And then she fell asleep too.


	9. The journey begins

"Cock a doodle doo!" The rooster goes.

The morning light before the dawn envelops the morning dew.

..."Ughhhhhh..." Asta wakes up fresh and ready for the new day. The sunlight rays enter the room.

He sits up ... and finds himself in a bed.

His vision shifts and ...next to him, a woman is sleeping...It's Lily. She's wearing her clothes except for her veil.

Asta breaks into cold sweat. What the hell is happening?! He starts breathing heavily. Something switches in his head. His hand rises, trembling. Asta sees a silver ring on his finger...

Suddenly the memories of the past night recollect in his head. He's Lily's husband now. What?! How did this happen!

Asta grabs his head, processing what just happened yesterday...But he stops in time, before all of the implications of this new status crawl into his head. For example, if Lily is his wife that means he is her husband, and what do husbands do with their wives-

Asta holds his breath and looks at Lily again. Her sleeping face is so cute. He looks at her hand. Indeed, a silver ring is shining on her hand too.

Asta in panic decides to wake her up.

He starts lightly pushing her.

"Mmm...I'm waking up..." Lily grunts, rubbing her eyes.

When she sees Asta sitting next to her in HER bed, she almost shrieks.

She stares at Asta for a few seconds and memories start circulating in her head too.

She looks into his eyes, waiting for a response...And then she says-

"Asta...We're married, right." It wasn't a question, rather a statement.

Asta starts fidgeting nervously. "Yes we are." Asta says in a weird voice. He's not sure how he should react.

"Um, Lily...We...uh...should get going..."

"Yes, I remember. We're going to the capital with Yuno, right?" Lily says in a blank stare. Now she's also sitting on the edge of the bed right next to Asta...They both awkwardly avoid looking each other in the eyes.

Lily breaks the silence and gently hugs Asta.

"Asta, don't be shy...We're married. It's natural for us to sleep together. Isn't this what you wanted? Besides, we were both in our clothes...We're not in a hurry. We have all the time in the world, but being shy...Won't do any progress in our relationship." Lily hesitantly says.

Asta's face goes red, as he has a weird feeling.

"I'll go prepare my travel bag." With these words Asta rushes out of the room and leaves Lily sitting on the bed.

Lily washes her face, sighs and silently walks out.

Nobody sees it, but she blushes and smiles as she prepares herself for a new life free from any clerical duties and a future that she will share with the man who chose her as wife. Freedom and optimism - that is what Asta taught her to believe in.

Suddenly she had a flashback of the dead body of the person who she killed unintentionally. A frown darkened her face as she tightened her fists and her face reflected her angst.

...

In fifteen minutes, Asta is standing near the village door. Lily is standing next to him.

Yuno walks up to them...The Priest says,

"I wish you luck.", to all three of them.

The other orphan children ask,"Sister Lily, why are you going with them?"

"Father Priest will tell you." Lily says with a smile.

The three adventurers walk down the road, leaving Hage village behind.

"HEY ALL OF YOU GUYS AT THE VILLAGE I'LL BECOME THE WIZARD KING JUST YOU WAIT AND SEE!" Asta shouts as he finally leaves the line of sight.

...

All of them walk towards the capital city.

They will traverse mountains and deserts, forests and rivers to get to their destination - the Royal Capital, where the Magic Knight Entrance Exam will be held.

But for now...The journey continues.

Yuno was mostly silent for most of the time, and soon the awkwardness between Asta and Lily fades. They start talking like friends, preferring not to bring up the fact of their marriage.

During their journey, Yuno asks, "Asta, how does your new magic work exactly?"

Lily looks at Asta with curiousity. She didn't really know what ability Asta got from the book. And...Asta never really had time to practice, either - because of the wedding.

Asta looks at Lily and Yuno with eagerness.

"Well, as far as I understand, it destroys magic spells. I have to use a sword that's stored inside of my grimoire. The sword is heavy though, and I can only use it because I've been physically training for so long. Yuno, cast your magic against me."

Yuno casts a wind spell and throws it at Asta.

Asta takes out his sword and swings it at the wind spell - it immediately disappears.

"Asta, try it against my magic." Lily says as she casts a water spell.

Asta's sword cancels it out too. Lily is amazed at this display. Now she really has a solid reason to believe that Asta might just succeed in becoming the Wizard King. Now he isn't defenseless, and he can hold his own against magic wielding enemies.

"Asta...If you practise, that can be a very poweful skill!" Lily exclaims, and leaps at Asta clutching him into a hug and lightly kissing him on the cheek.

As the more adult one in their relationship, she subconsciously realized that she must gradually make Asta feel more comfortable around her, and physical contact is perhaps one of the most important aspects of a life of a married couple. Despite her being a nun in the past, at the end of the day, she was still a woman and she always desired some sort of affection, and now there was no reason to hold back. Absolutely no reason.

Asta was just paralyzed as the woman he always loved jumped onto him...Reality didn't match up with his fantasies in the sense that he always thought he'd be the one always kissing and hugging her. But in reality he was still too intimidated by Lily's maturity and by his fear of making a bad impression on her. He definitely enjoyed her displays of affection though as he experienced pure bliss as she held him in her arms. Slowly but surely, he was getting used to having physical contact with her.

Yuno smiled as he watched the newly wed couple having fun.

"Asta...that's seriously a great skill. If you can cancel out magic, that means you have a great advantage against all magic users. Although you are limited by the range of your sword, so you're no match against more skilled magicians at this point. I'm sure you'll work out something though." Yuno says.

"YOU BET, YUNO!" Asta shouted. Lily giggled at his confidence and looked at Asta with hope.

Asta took out his new grimoire. It was really old and worn out. But that didn't matter as long as it symbolized Asta's opportunity to become the Wizard King. Lily and Yuno also took out their grimoires. Asta noticed that Lily's grimoire was blue.

"Asta...How about we do some training?" Lily shyly offers. "I'll throw some of my water spells against you, and you will try to cancel them."

"Sure!" Asta's enthusiasm never fails to amaze. It was still strange to look at Lily who wasn't wearing a veil, but he really liked her pigtail that really suited her blue hair. She was still wearing nun clothes and a gold cross, so Asta thought to himself that he should probably buy new clothes for her when he got some more money.

Asta and Lily stood on a meadow on a disance of 10 paces apart. Yuno agreed to be a supervisor.

"Ready...Set...Go!"

Lily started spamming simple water spheres against Asta. He easily destroyed them, although it was evident that his grip on the sword was still shaky due to lack of experience.

Lily started attacking Asta with three more powerful water magic spells, weakened versions of her concentrated water spirals. They were really fast, so Asta only managed to hit 2 out of 3, with the remaining water spiral making him soaked in water and knocking him onto the ground.

Asta rised to his legs, water dripping from his clothes.

"Water Creation Magic - Holy Fist of Love!" Lily shouted. The spell was really fast and massive.

Asta barely managed to cut half of the water spell, the remaining half flushed against Asta, dragging him across the grass for about 7 meters.

"I'M OK!" Asta shouted, panting from the exhaustion as he sat on the ground as Yuno and Lily approached him.

"It's already evening, let's make a camp." Yuno said as the sun was setting in the dusk.  
...


End file.
